![[user46392]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Dan Murariu's steady ascent of the chip counts continued as he knocked out a short stack to put him up to 90,000.
Murariu: 
Soon-to-be-busted shortie: 
We're not sure whether the chips went in before the flop or on it, but either way the board looked like so:
How deceiving a hand can be!
Michael Tureniec opened on the button for 1,600 and John O'Shea called in the small blind as did the big blind. The flop was 
and everyone checked. The dealer gave us the 
on the turn and everyone checked again. Then someone woke the dealer up to give us a river card 
and everyone checked for a third time.
"What a boring hand!" I thought.
The only person apparently interested was John O'Shea who slammed down pocket tens for a flopped top set. He laid the bait and no one took it.
O'Shea now has 91,500.
Team PokerStars Pro Arnaud Mattern has been chipping up well these past couple of levels but was close to undoing all of his hard work when he was put to the test by Sacha Ordelheide.
Gil Nehamkin, who has been very active on this table, opened the betting with a raise to 2,000 from the cutoff. Mattern made the call on the button but both players looked shocked as Ordelheide moved all in for what turned out to be 18,700 chips.
Nehamkin instantly folded but from the grimaces on Mattern's face, his decision was much more difficult. After less than a minute, Mattern decided to commit his chips in a different spot and reluctantly tossed his cards towards the muck.
Fernando Brito is back down to just about his 30,000 starting stack after betting out 6,600 on a 
flop, only to face a min-raise to 13,200 from his opponent. Brito thought about it for some time but ultimately opted to fold, looking somewhat pensive.
Loic Sa is currently running over his table. We caught him opening with a raise to 1,900 not long after the break and the small blind called. The flop was [a2] and the small blind checked and Sa made the continuation bet of 1,625 and the small blind surrendered. We then wandered around the other tables and came back to Sa who repeated the same feat one orbit later. He is the tournament leader and table captain all rolled into one at the moment.
Chip leader as we head into the latter stages of the day (we quit after Level 9) remains French online qualifier Loic Sa. He's increased his stack to a whopping 175,000 since dinner.
Hot on his heels, though is EPT San Remo finalist Claudio Piceci. He's on around 130,000 as the crucial closing stages of Day 1a approach.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
119,900 | -8,100 |
|
106,250 | 26,250 |
|
97,770 | 2,770 |
|
76,400 | 41,100 |
|
45,050 | 5,050 |
|
43,800 | 11,800 |
|
38,650 | -12,650 |
|
31,200 | 6,150 |
|
29,600 | 10,000 |
Arnaud Mattern told us about an interesting hand he played just before the break, where he called a preflop raise to 1,300, and another player called behind with just 10,000 left after the call.
The flop came down 
and the original raiser checked to Mattern, who bet around 2,500. The short stack shoved for his last 10,000, the original raiser folded, and Mattern was left with a decision. Eventually he called with pocket fives - and was delighted to find his opponent holding pocket fours and drawing thinner than an anorexic whippet.
Mattern is up to 40,000 - no mean feat after being down to just 11,000 not long ago.
Level: 8
Blinds: 400/800
Ante: 75
The players are now going on another 15 minute break and when they return they will be joined by the players who are currently on their dinner break. Make sense? No, I did not think so, but trust me when I say we know what we are talking about!
